Comment 1 for bug 898201

What would be nice is if Marlin could draw icons on a per workspace basis. Any desktop files could be stored in '~/Desktop/' (to insure compatibility with other file managers and dual-boot set-ups) with symlinks stored in the appropriate '~/Desktop/.workspace#'. Failing that however, simply drawing desktop icons would be a boon to some (although I've gotten used to my uncluttered desktop to be honest).

I think it's important though to draw the line at drawing the desktop background, that isn't within the remit of a file manager like Marlin in my view (the incompatibility between nautilus and compiz's wallpaper plug-in being a case in point).